FILE - Kwame Raoul 1-25-18
State Senator and 2018 attorney general candidate Kwame Raoul answers questions from members of the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018.
Image from the Chicago Tribune's Facebook Live
The Democratic front-runner to replace Lisa Madigan as Illinois’ Attorney General got heated when challenged on donations from a tobacco company involved in a state settlement.
The crowded panel sat down with the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board Wednesday. Subjects jumped from bashing the president to distancing themselves from House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Chicago-area attorney Michael Goldstein challenged front-runner, state Sen. Kwame Raoul, D-Chicago, on accepting $100,000 from tobacco companies when the attorney general is in charge of doling out money from a massive settlement against those very companies.
Raoul didn’t take it well.
“Should I assume that everybody who gives you a contribution is buying you?” he asked Goldstein, holding back anger. “Then you shouldn’t assume that of me.”
He shot back at Chicago Park District President Jesse Ruiz, who accused Raoul of saying the donations were OK since he wasn’t the attorney general yet.
“Jesse, you cannot tell me what I said,” Raoul shouted across the table. “You are a serial liar.”
Raoul has lost his temper against lawmakers in Springfield and has publicly confronted radio hosts that have challenged him in the past.
Seen as the front-runner in the campaign, Raoul has received a number of endorsements by Democratic establishment organizations, including the Cook County Democratic Party and their leader, Joe Berrios. The controversial county assessor is under fire for improperly valuing  properties and being perceived as the head of a patronage relationship between the office and property tax appeal attorneys that make money from the process.
Raoul wouldn’t say whether Berrios should step down from his position.
The candidates later debated who would be best suited to tackle corruption in Springfield in light of criticism of Lisa Madigan’s hesitance to investigate issues that may have harmed her father, House Speaker Michael Madigan. The editorial board appeared to surprise candidate Nancy Rotering when a member asked her about dozens of workers from the speaker’s district working for her campaign.
Former prosecutor Sharon Fairley said that the AG's office needs to have greater jurisdiction over the General Assembly. As it stands, the office cannot investigate a potential issue until referred to it by the Legislative Inspector General, who needs permission from a panel of lawmakers.